The Truth Part 3
by Melissa843
Summary: The Truth Part 2 continued. Scully and Mulder find William but how was he sent back to them? Shipper friendly. Light fluff heavy plot.
1. Dreams

**SPOILER:** The Truth Part 2 of course. Also, reference to Mulder's dream in The Sixth Extinction.  
  
**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own these characters, or Fox Productions, or Ten Thirteen Productions. Now that I look back on it I don't own a lot. Depressing. I do however control Chris Carter's actions with a little remote control. Bwahaha. Dance little man! Dance! Just kidding. Now stop reading the disclaimer and get to the good stuff.  
  
^^^^^^^X^^^^^^^^

_*~...And it's not your fault it gets this hard. They knock you down I'll pick you up They laugh at you I'll shut them up. Hold your head high Don't look down I'm by your side Won't back down You wanted a hero tonight Well I'm not made of steel But your secret's safe with me...~* "Made of Steel" OLP_

^^^^^^^X^^^^^^^^  
  
He wasn't sure if it was a dream or a flashback. Perhaps it was just a familiar vision, a vision that had compelled him to seek the truth when it would have just been easier to conform. He felt comfort in this place. He wasn't alone here. The ocean tides clashed against the rocks. He found himself working on the same spaceship made from sand with the same boy working furiously beside him.  
  
Mulder looked down at the boy, who finally put down the shovel and sand bucket. "It's finished."  
  
"What do you mean it's finished?" Mulder asked seeing the defeat in the boy's eyes.  
  
"See the tides? It's going to get knocked down." The boy motioned to the oncoming waves, which were getting dangerously closer to their creation. "It's going to get knocked down and there's nothing we can do to stop it."  
  
"The waves never stopped you before. We can always rebuild. This time we'll build it farther away from the waves so it won't get knocked down again." Mulder explained not wanting to accept the boy's defeat. "It's never finished unless you let it end."  
  
The boy smiled at him like he had won some kind of victory. The child reached out his hand pulling Mulder down from the sand ship. They stood there silently watching the waves creep over their creation. Slowly it was destroyed leaving only a mound of sand remaining. Mulder and the boy walked over to where the sand ship once stood and picked up the sand bucket and shovel. This time they walked farther from the ocean and began their work.  
  
The boy gave Mulder a quizzical look like something was missing. "Mom!" he cried out. "Mom! Come and help us!"  
  
Mulder gazed into the nothingness and saw a woman's figure slowly appear. Her hair was loosely tied back and a warm look covered her familiar face. She reached out to the boy caressing his hair. Mulder realized the boy he once dreamed about was no longer a youthful expression of himself. "William..."  
  
The boy smiled at him as his mother knelt down in the sand and began working on the sand ship. She looked up at him with the same fire and determination he had come to admire. Their eyes locked. "You never let me give up" Mulder stated breaking the silence.  
  
"Fight the fight Mulder." Scully replied handing him a shovel.  
  
^^^^^^^X^^^^^^^^  
  
Roswell, New Mexico  
  
She awoke in his arms. She wasn't sure when they has fallen asleep. It didn't even feel like reality. All she knew was that he was here with her and safe and she would do anything to keep things that way. These were the times when her thoughts drifted to what might have been. What if she went into medicine? What if she settled down? What if she had a nice white wedding to some blue collar guy? Weren't these the things little girl's dreams were made of? She laughed inside her head. Domestic bliss was not made for Dana Scully. Her thoughts ran to the biggest sacrifice she had made.  
  
"William" Mulder softly mumbled from his sleep as if reading her mind.  
  
Scully turned to him examining his face. He was smiling. He was dreaming about their son, their son that she gave away. She inhaled sharply trying to push the thought from her head. She wished she could have protected him. She knew the truth. Mulder knew it too. They had seen too much. They knew too much. She thought of Mulder and herself in domestic bliss raising William. It didn't feel right. Ironically enough running away from the goverment trying to stop aliens felt perfect. She tightened his arms around her seeking comfort in the one thing she had left.


	2. William

CHAPTER 2  
  
Roswell, New Mexico  
  
Scully awoke startled at the ringing of her cell phone. "Should I answer it?" She asked Mulder who looked at her groggily.  
  
"I don't know. They probably have your phone tapped."  
  
Scully sighed and rubbed her eyes. "What time is it?"  
  
"You ask the man who hasn't seen the light of day for god knows how long" Mulder replied jokingly. "Morning I suppose"  
  
"A new day" Scully reflected. Mulder smiled at the inner meaning remembering his dream. "It's never finished unless you let it end."  
  
Scully threw him a questioning look "I dream about you" he replied "I dream about William too."  
  
"I know. I hear you call his name in your sleep. I wish there was more I could do. I wish we could protect him."  
  
"We've been through too much. We couldn't even protect ourselves from the truth. All we can hope to do is go down fighting." Mulder stated never breaking eye contact.  
  
"I shouldn't have let you go alone. You are my partner and I deserted you." Scully answered the guilt plaguing her eyes.  
  
"No. I deserted you and our son. I thought I was protecting you but I couldn't protect myself" Mulder replied, "I gave up everything to discover a truth I can't change. I should have stayed with my constant. That was you."  
  
Scully's cell phone rang again.  
  
"Answer it"  
  
"But..." Scully protested.  
  
"We can't stay here forever. We can't hide in fear. It took us nine years of sacrifices and battles to find the truth. I won't let it destroy us now."  
  
Scully cautiously reached for her phone "Scully"  
  
"Agent Scully. It's Skinner." She breathed a sigh of relief at the voice on the other end.  
  
"It's Skinner" she said to Mulder who relaxed at the sound of the familiar name.  
  
"Agent Scully are you both alright?"  
  
"We're... yes...we're fine" Scully answered still worried her phone was tapped.  
  
"You need to come back. I can protect you. Both you and Mulder but you need to come back."  
  
Silence.  
  
"You need to trust me. You can't do this alone. They're going to find you unless you let me help. For once in your career people are supporting you. You can still save yourselves you just need to let someone help." Scully stared at Mulder. It was almost as if they were communicating without words. "What do you need us to do?" Scully replied.  
  
^^^^^^^^^^^^^  
  
Roswell Indian Reservation Roswell, New Mexico 10:42am  
  
Mulder and Scully walked carefully through the reservation. "This is the place" Scully stated.  
  
"So we're here. Now what?" Mulder asked dodging some playing children in the meantime.  
  
"I have no idea. Skinner just said to come here and we would find what we needed to come back home." Just as Scully finished this sentence a small Indian boy grasped her hand.  
  
"Come with me" he said dragging her along. Mulder shrugged and followed. They were led into a small pueblo with a very elderly Indian woman inside. She rose at the sight of them.  
  
"Hi. I'm Special Agent Dana Scully and this is my partner..."  
  
The Indian woman cut her off, "I have known you longer than my ancestors roamed the earth"  
  
"Well then maybe you can give us whatever it is we were sent here for." Scully replied.  
  
The Indian woman approached her glaring into her eyes "The spirit of a Warrior. The defender of the truth." She turned to Mulder. "And you must be the seeker. You see what others look past. Your heart is full of questions that can be only answered by the stars."  
  
Scully and Mulder shared a glance as a baby began to cry in the back round. "Mother with the heart of a warrior." The Indian woman touched Scully's face. "My tribe was brought a gift that was not rightfully ours. We wish to return it." The Indian woman summoned for a younger woman who walked out holding blankets carrying the crying child. Scully gasped as the child was placed in her arms and his crying stopped.  
  
"William?" Mulder asked peering into the blankets  
  
"It can't be. H...How did you get him?" Scully asked in disbelief.  
  
"This child is protected. He was brought to us by the moon and stars. They carried him away from danger." The Indian woman stated.  
  
"But how did you know he was ours?" Mulder questioned.  
  
"I told you. I have known you both since my ancestors roamed the earth. He is a very special child." She spoke as Scully continued to stare in disbelief. "You must go now. It is no longer safe here. You must return home."  
  
At this an Indian man led them away from the reservation.  
  
^^^^^^^^^^^^^  
  
Washington, D.C. 5:00pm  
  
"Mulder? Scully? What the hell are you doing here?" Skinner asked as the two agents walked into his office. Scully carrying William in her arms.  
  
"You called us here." Mulder replied.  
  
"No. No I didn't. I couldn't. Your phone lines are tapped."  
  
"What? No. Skinner you sent us to the Roswell Indian Reservation. They had William." Scully said gripping the child to her chest.  
  
"William?" Skinner looked at the child "My god, Scully. How did you find him?"  
  
"Find him? Skinner your found him at the Indian Reservation. That's why you sent us there." Scully answered.  
  
"Agent Scully. Agent Mulder. I don't know how this is possible. I didn't send you anywhere. I didn't have the heart to tell you but the Van de Kamps were killed. William was taken." Skinner took another look at the child. "This isn't possible."  
  
"Killed?" Mulder reiterated.  
  
"How did these Indians say they stumbled across him?" Skinner asked watching the child giggle and coo at his mother.  
  
"Sir you need to keep an open mind." Mulder said.  
  
"Don't I always?"  
  
"They said he was brought by the stars."  
  
"The stars? My god. How are you sure this is your William? That this isn't some elaborate trick to lure you from hiding?" Skinner questioned.  
  
"A mother knows" Scully replied, "I don't know how or why he came back to us but he did. Lately, I've believed more impossible things then this."  
  
"That may be true but even so this doesn't look good." Skinner said.  
  
"What do you mean 'doesn't look good'" Mulder inquired.  
  
Skinner took a long sigh. "Don't take this the wrong way but we have a double homicide kidnapping on our hands involving your child and his adoptive parents. Now you conveniently show up with William in my office saying he was brought to you by Indians I sent you to when I haven't had contact with either of you for days."  
  
"So... what your saying is you don't believe us."  
  
"Mulder, people are out there looking for you. This is no time to be a smart ass." Skinner replied.  
  
"Sir I spoke with you myself!" Scully shouted, "I spoke with you."  
  
"Agent I don't know who you spoke with but I can guarantee you it was not I. The truth is your phone as been tapped and showed no activity for the past two days." Skinner answered.  
  
"You think we're crazy. We'll prove it to you. We'll go back to Roswell. You can speak with the Indians yourself." Mulder said. "Please. Don't lose faith in us now."  
  
"What about William? He isn't safe here." Skinner replied.  
  
"Giving him up didn't make him safe either. We're taking him with us." Scully stated matter-of-factly.  
  
"Agent Scully I don't think that is the best idea."  
  
"Do you have any other ideas?" Mulder paused waiting for a response "Didn't think so"  
  
Skinner sighed, "I'll book the tickets." 


	3. Questions

Georgetown, Virgina 6:00pm  
  
"How long did Skinner say we had till the flight?" Scully asked opening the door to her apartment.  
  
Mulder glanced at his watch. "He couldn't book us tickets until the morning." He plopped down on her couch and wiggled his eyebrows "So Agent Scully how do you suggest we keep ourselves occupied?"  
  
"Ha. Mulder I suggest showers perhaps, a long cold one in your case." Scully shifted William in her arms stopping to check her messages.  
  
Mulder gave one of the first genuine smiles he'd given in a while. He missed her comebacks. "Good one. So, about that shower, do I get to join?"  
  
"Persistent." Scully chuckled.  
  
"Always." Mulder answered as William began to fuss in Scully's arms.  
  
"Hey pal, somebody getting jealous?" Mulder asked taking William. "It's okay I can share" Scully stroked her son's head as Mulder whispered, "Looks like someone else can't." Scully looked up at him surprised at the accusation. "Scully, it's okay. Go take a shower. I won't break him I promise."  
  
"I'm sorry Mulder I'm just worried for him" Scully apologized.  
  
"Mama lion protecting her cub. It's fine. I understand. I just haven't really had the chance to spend time with him" Mulder said regretfully.  
  
Scully gave a light smile. "You're going to be a wonderful father." She kissed Mulder's forehead then William's and retreated for the shower.  
  
^^^^^^^^^^^^  
  
Scully couldn't help but feel as though she intruded into something personal as she watched Mulder cradle their child in his arms. His face looked so calm and the low humming sound he made almost put her to sleep. It almost made her forget everything that had happened. Giving her son away, Mulder's trial, his escape all seemed to go away. She could have swore it was always like this - calm and peaceful. She envied William, lying there so serene. She wished for his innocence. She knew his finding his way back into her life didn't make sense but for once she didn't want to question it. As far as she was concerned William being there was enough of an answer. As Mulder placed William in the crib he turned seeing Scully in the doorway.  
  
"Hi." he said walking towards her and out of the room "I just put him to sleep."  
  
"I saw."  
  
"Scully, how could this have happened?" Mulder questioned.  
  
"I thought you were the one with the answers." Scully replied.  
  
Mulder laughed, "Maybe that was true once upon a time"  
  
"I want to go back to that fairy tale then." She stated sadly, "Can't we just be like everyone else and be happy that our son is here and safe?"  
  
"No." Mulder answered, "We can't Scully because that isn't us. We don't just accept things for how they are. That's how we came this far."  
  
Scully hugged him tightly. "I know Mulder, I'm just afraid of what we might find if we question this."  
  
"I'm afraid of what we might not find if we don't question this." Mulder answered looking into her eyes.  
  
Scully sighed. "You're right."  
  
"I'm always right."  
  
"Go take a shower." Scully insisted.  
  
"C'mon now I don't smell that bad do I?" Mulder joked.  
  
"Don't make me answer that question." Scully grinned, "I think there's some clothes of yours still in my closet."  
  
"So, Dana Scully, are you implying I stay the night?" Mulder wiggled his eyebrows again.  
  
"Fox Mulder, do I ever imply anything?"  
  
"No." Mulder answered turning back before he reached the bathroom, "But you really should start."  
  
Scully laughed returning to William's room to keep guarded watch of her cub.  
  
^^^^^^^^^  
  
Georgetown, Virginia 4:00am  
  
Mulder groaned at the sound of the alarm clock flinging his arm trying to shut the damn thing off. Scully rolled over him clicking a button silencing the dreadful alarm.  
  
"My savior." Mulder proclaimed.  
  
"Well if we don't get moving we're both going to need a savior to save us from Skinner if we miss that flight."  
  
"Ugggh. Five more minutes mom." Mulder groaned.  
  
Scully abruptly sat up hitting Mulder in the head with a pillow.  
  
"Hey now that's not fair."  
  
"And why not?" Scully inquired.  
  
"Because" Mulder reached for the pillow in Scully's hands "You're armed."  
  
"And dangerous." She finished.  
  
"Agent Scully you have no idea" Mulder winked getting out of bed. "I'll get William ready. You pack our things."  
  
^^^^^^^  
  
Roswell Indian Reservation Roswell, New Mexico 9:00am  
  
"Well agents here we are now where's our answers?" Skinner asked looking around the busy reservation.  
  
"Sir, you just need to know where to look." Mulder replied leading towards the pueblo where William was returned.  
  
"Excuse me?" Mulder called entering the pueblo with Scully and Skinner trailing behind "Is anyone here?"  
  
The same elderly Indian woman from the previous day entered the room "Ah, I knew you would be back." She gestured towards William snuggled in the carrier Scully was holding. "You seek an answer for how he came back to you."  
  
"Well to be perfectly honest you never really did explain that to us." Scully answered.  
  
"But I did. He was brought from danger by the stars." The Indian woman justified.  
  
"Not to be rude ma'am but we have a double homicide and a kidnapping on our hands and for some reason I doubt any judge will believe that explanation." Skinner argued.  
  
The Indian woman chuckled. "You believe. You pretend to know the answers. To know the possible from the impossible but somewhere in your mind you always believe."  
  
"Where did you find him?" Mulder finally decided to cut through the bullshit and ask.  
  
"Men from my tribe were drawn to him by a bright flash of light."  
  
"Bright flash of light?" Scully questioned.  
  
"Yes. The bright flash of light that brought him here. They tried to find the source but were stopped by a strong energy they found your son as the light ascended into the heavens." The woman motioned towards the sky.  
  
"What kind of energy?" Skinner asked.  
  
"Energy from the stars. It would not let the men pass." She answered.  
  
"Thank you I think that's all we need." Mulder stated leading Skinner and Scully out of the pueblo.  
  
"Agent Mulder?" The woman stopped him.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"You seek another answer?" The woman inquired.  
  
"Yes." Mulder simply stated walking out into the reservation.  
  
"Mulder what was that about?" Scully asked when they were fully out the pueblo.  
  
"Scully after nine years of working on the X-files and after my abduction what did what she describe sound like?" Mulder responded.  
  
"Mulder you're not implying..." Scully started.  
  
"A UFO Scully. He wasn't brought by the stars. He was brought by them." Mulder explained. "When I was abducted you were stopped by an energy field because they did not want you. A field that protected their spacecraft."  
  
"But why would they return him?" Skinner asked watching William alertly look around from the carrier.  
  
"I don't know. Maybe for the same reason he wasn't taken before. He isn't what they thought he was." Mulder said.  
  
"How are you supposed to prove this?" Skinner asked, "I'm sure people will be asking questions. I'm sure they will be looking for suspects of the Van de Kamps murder and I'm sure you and Scully will be on the top of the list."  
  
Mulder rubbed his face looking at Scully noticing how tired she looked. She looked so mentally drained. He just wished he could come up with an answer to end all of this for her.  
  
"It doesn't make sense." Scully spoke up "Why did they go through all that trouble to take him? Why didn't they just abduct him like everyone else? And if Skinner didn't call us who did? Why didn't they just drop him off at our doorstep with a bow around his head?"  
  
"I don't know Scully but were going to find out." Mulder answered. 


	4. Reasoning

Chapter 4  
  
Washington, D.C. 1:00pm  
  
"Wow. If walls could talk huh?" Mulder said walking into his old office with Skinner and Scully.  
  
"If walls could clean." Scully answered wiping heavy dust off the filing cabinets. "So, what exactly are we looking for?"  
  
Mulder opened a filing cabinet searching through the contents, "We'll know when we find it."  
  
"I thought everything from the X-files was destroyed." Scully noted.  
  
"Apparently not." Mulder replied gathering the files together.  
  
"I don't understand why they didn't destroy our files." Scully asked, "Or at least give away the office."  
  
"They did." Skinner explained, "Or at least they think they did. I recovered the files before they were destroyed and tried to fix everything up."  
  
"You really expected us to come back." Mulder said amazed at the faith in Skinner's gesture.  
  
"Agents I was beginning to believe you're indestructible but, by some chance you weren't I couldn't watch nine years of work go up in smoke." Skinner admitted.  
  
"So were Reyes and Dogget both reassigned to the X-files then?" Scully asked.  
  
Skinner sighed, "They were transferred. They're hearts weren't in it enough to fight. I did what I could to save the X-files but with the government and bureau's threats I didn't have an agent who would touch them with a ten foot pole."  
  
"Well I guess it's true." Mulder chuckled, "There are only two people in the world crazy enough to take on the X-files."  
  
"Maybe there are only two people passionate enough to take on the X-files." Skinner replied.  
  
"Sir." Scully spoke up.  
  
Skinner made eye contact. "Yes?"  
  
"Thank you" Scully said, "For everything."  
  
"It was the least I could do." Skinner answered looking at his watch, "I have a meeting to get to. Agents, lay low for a while until I can figure out how to get your heads off the cutting board."  
  
"We will. Thank you again Sir." Scully said as Skinner walked down the hall. A few minutes later she turned to Mulder, "None of these cases explains anything. Mulder, let's just say your UFO theory is wrong."  
  
"Okay. We can say that." Mulder replied placing down a bunch of files.  
  
"Maybe we should be looking at other possibilities. You heard the case, double homicide child kidnapping. What if that's all it is? What if we've spent so much time worrying about 'them' and dealing with 'them' and accusing 'them' that were not used to suspecting anyone else?" Scully reasoned.  
  
"That's why you're my partner isn't it?" Mulder asked, "To provide logical reasoning to situations I only provide impossible answers to."  
  
"What if I can't anymore Mulder? What if I've seen too many things I can't explain? What if my thoughts on science are distorted?"  
  
"Then we wouldn't be here having this conversation would we? You would be sitting idly by looking for evidence in the X-files. Instead, here you are thinking of the logical solutions." Mulder replied, "If anything Scully don't ever doubt your ability to be my partner. We've been through too much for you to start doubting yourself now."  
  
Scully smiled, "I guess I'll go find out if there were any witnesses to the murder. Any possible suspects."  
  
"Besides ourselves." Mulder stated.  
  
"Besides ourselves" Scully repeated reaching for William.  
  
"I'll watch him. You just be careful" Mulder warned.  
  
"I will be. I can handle myself." Scully replied reassuringly.  
  
"I never suspected otherwise." Mulder said watching her walk out the door.  
  
^^^^X^^^^^  
  
Washington, D.C. A few hours later...  
  
Skinner reentered the old office rubbing his temples, "This looks really bad."  
  
Mulder looked up from the desk covered in papers, "I like to call it organized mayhem myself."  
  
"I mean you and Scully getting William back after everything that's happened. It looks bad." Skinner explained.  
  
"What were we suppose to do? Leave him at the reservation and keep hiding? Pretend like we didn't know where he was?" Mulder asked.  
  
"No, I'm not saying you should have done things differently. I am saying that you and Agent Scully suddenly reappear with your son after he's kidnapped with no probable explanation. That doesn't reflect good on you both." Skinner answered.  
  
Mulder sighed, "Sir, Agent Scully and I have gone nine years with improbable explanations. I think they can handle one more."  
  
"You're a marked man. They're out to find you." Skinner stated honestly, "And when they find you they're going to kill you."  
  
"Sir, with all due respect, if they wanted me dead I would have been." Mulder continued, "There was no reason to kill me. They realize I know the truth and I can't do anything about it. But, if they were to kill me it would prove they had something to hide."  
  
"They're worried you'll tell people the truth."  
  
"No, they're not. I can't." Mulder said with defeat in his eyes, "I have too much to lose now. Even if I shouted the truth to the world I would probably end up on the front page of a super market tabloid and no one would be able to change it."  
  
"I hope you're right but, what if William is just part of a plan to lure you out of hiding?" Skinner asked.  
  
"Then they must not be looking too hard for me." Mulder rubbed his eyes looking at the papers in front of him, "What's important now is finding out who sent William here and what they wanted from him so I can clear Scully and myself of any possible suspicion surrounding the Van de Kamps murder."  
  
Skinner nodded, "Be careful. There's not a lot of people you and Scully can trust around here anymore."  
  
"There never were."  
  
^^^^^^X^^^^^^^  
  
Scully entered the morgue flashing her FBI identification hoping no one would notice that she probably wasn't technically an agent anymore, "Can I speak with a Dr. Blargen?" Scully asked the security guard.  
  
"Um, yes, third door to your right." the security guard directed.  
  
Scully entered the room finding the doctor sitting at his desk, "Hello, Dr. Blargen, my name is Agent Scully with the FBI. I was wondering if I could ask you some questions."  
  
"Why of course. Have a seat." Dr. Blargen offered.  
  
"Thank you." Scully said while sitting down, "Your name appears on this autopsy report correct?"  
  
The doctor took the report looking over it, "Ah, yes, such an odd case."  
  
"I noticed you autopsied both individuals but didn't mark a cause of death for either just naming it to be 'suspicious'." Scully stated.  
  
"Why yes. The cause of death it was nothing like my colleagues or I had ever witnessed. It appeared to be an apparent poisoning but we found no trace of poison in the victims' blood. At least no familiar substances." Dr. Blargen explained, "Maybe it would be easier just to show you myself."  
  
Scully followed the doctor to where the bodies were being kept and uncovered the man's. Scully and Dr. Blargen both put on examination gloves as Dr. Blargen pointed out poking the jelly like skin, "Look at the skin. It appears to have been broken down by something."  
  
Scully nodded as a memory crept into her head, "Are there any bone samples?"  
  
The doctor took a tube filled with the bone sample placing it on the microscope slide, "That is what was most unusual of all. Have a look."  
  
Scully peered into the microscope and stepped back shocked at what she found.  
  
"Agent, have you ever seen anything like this before?" Dr. Blargen asked.  
  
"Yes" Scully answered, "Yes, I have." 


End file.
